CHRIS Pine has said the response to his full-frontal nudity in his new film has highlighted a double standard for male and female stars.
The actor appears fully nude in one scene in Outlaw King, in which he plays the Scottish king Robert the Bruce, but a slew of headlines have made reference to the brief moment.
He told the Press Association: "Firstly in exploring this kind of man who is to be called king and treated like a king, I thought it was important to see the king and the animal, the man and the animal, that his feet are in the mud.
"That he is both violent and primitive and bestial, but also something else. So I thought to see the human de-clothed, and his animal self is really important."
He added: "Florence (Pugh, his co-star) shows her entire body in this film, and no-one is talking about that.
"And people want to talk about my penis like we're a bunch of teenagers playing spin the bottle.
"I'd love to have an interesting conversation about why is it funny or pithy or a conversation to be had about that, whereas Florence is not.
"Is she expected to do that because she is a woman and I'm not expected to do that because I'm a man? What is it really? I don't know, totally.
"But certainly there's a lot of violence in this film and people get de-bowelled and stuff like that, and no-one wants to talk about that.
"And I think it's certainly a marker of our puritanical culture where if people make love, or show what god gave us, it's somehow NC-17 (a US film rating, where nobody under 17 will be admitted) and you can de-bowel, behead, you can do all sorts of crazy shit like that and people are like 'yeah that seems right'.
"Let's put a big mirror up to us and say 'Why? What's going on guys?'"
Scottish director David Mackenzie, with whom Pine previously worked on Hell And High Water, added: "I think it's the social media age. This is the fifth film I've had full frontal male nudity, no-one's ever had such a fuss about it.
"And it's far less than I've ever had before, and it's totally motivated.
"The guy is washing himself in a loch in the Highlands, and just pops out - I don't know what the fuss is about.
"And it says something about our times and I wish people would get over it."
Pine said he knew nothing about the Scottish king before Mackenzie discussed the idea with him while they were promoting their last project.
He said: "It was David, first and foremost (that was the attraction), because I'd had such a wonderful experience working with him last time.
"It was the fact that it was swords and horses and mud and that appealed to my eight-year-old self.
"And it was the fact that it was a big budget hero journey kind of David and Goliath story, but through the lens of David's eye, which made it incredibly interesting to me.
"I think what I liked about Robert the Bruce is that he was not William Wallace, he wasn't served on a platter in terms of his heroism. He was a man complicated by his own weaknesses and simultaneously strong and vulnerable, and Machiavellian and selfless, and all these great things that I felt made him tremendously human."
- Outlaw King will be released in cinemas and on Netflix on November 9.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel